J38. Stuck claws. (.30.) .35.40.42.-.44.50.63.
Amighty bird pierces its claws into a huge aquatic creature. The claws are stuck in his body. The bird is dragged under water or can hardly be released.
(Shahname), Southern Selkups, Kets, Mansi, Asian Eskimos, Fr. St. Lawrence, North Alaska Inupiate, Hyda, Heiltzuk, Quakiutl, Nootka, Makah, Comox, Sechelt, Lkungen, Squamish, Quileut, Menominee, Winnebago, Fox, Cocopa, Manao, Mura, Munduruku
(Wed. Iran - Central Asia. Shahname [Isfandier, son of Shah Gushtasp, goes on a campaign to Turan against Hakan Arjaspa; he is in the Ruindizh fortress; out of three roads, I. chooses a short but difficult one; kills Two monstrous wolves, a lion and a lioness, who tried to block his way; to kill the dragon, he hides in a chest placed on a chariot with blades; the dragon draws in a chariot, but the blades dig into his throat; I. gets out of the chest, smashes the dragon from the inside with a sword, he dies; I. loses consciousness from his child, but wakes up when the valiant Beshutan poured water on him; then I. kills a sorceress; then, in the same chest, on a chariot with blades, allows the bird to attack Simurg; the blades dig into its body, it cannot take off, I. kills it with a sword; I.'s army survives the snowy storm, shallow water wades, reaches the fortress]: Ulug-zoda 1989:225-238).
Western Siberia. Southern Selkups (b. Ket) [Püne swallows rocks, trees, people, animals; in the middle of the sea there is "a fish with a hairy horn, a fish with a spotted horn"; it can lift the ground; the bird grabs it, its claws get stuck, break off; I. agrees to help; the bird carries him over the sea; to test his courage, drops him three times, picks him up; he plays a seven-string instrument, all living things come to listen to him; fish too; she asks to remove the rotting claws; I. takes it out, pus has flooded the whole sea; the fish tells I. to go into her ear, there is a room in her, I. takes her as his wife; attaches her claws three times weakly to take revenge for fear of falling; for the fourth time - firmly, the bird can hunt; after his adventures, I. and his wife return home]: Donner 1915:42-44 (retelling in Tuchkova 2004:251); Kets (Imbatsky) [old man Erohot brings up a chanterelle; she steals fish from the Inita (Ingeta) storage shed, brings Erohot; Casket lived with the Inites; I. tells him to see what is outside, K. says that there is no one; I. finds a chanterelle trail; the chanterelle became a three-legged horse, Init turned to Casketa; K. sat on his horse, came to the shaman tree, with a cradle on it; began to swing in the cradle; at the top there was an eagle's nest, with three eagles in it, the tree began to shake, eagles squeaked; K. eagle: give me a flint bag; eagle: I'll give you my claw from the ruff; K. (aka chanterelle) went, became Tylget sitting on larch; the eagle wanted to catch him, and he snatched one eye from him; he became K. again, came to the sea; fish (shark, whale? storyteller's translation) stuck her nose out; said that the eagle wanted to grab her, she had her claw; but the fish's horns froze to the ice; would give her claw if K. brought horns; K. saw devils in the sand, smeared as if the devil himself was also soot, he did not drink, but poured it aside; when the devils got drunk, he took away the horns {that the devils had horns, it is not directly said, but it is clear}; brought horns to the fish, she gave the eagle's claw; went, became again T. and larch; a whetstone at the butt, he took it; the sea rose, T. left the whetstone, the sea took it; an eagle flew in, K. gave him an eye, but not an eagle's claw; the eagle brought K. to the eagle, K. gave her a claw, received a flint; said he would go down to old man Erohot]: Dulzon 1969, No. 57:184-186; Mansi [Warlord-in-clothed collar-from-sable (V.) sends servants for arrow poles, they they don't bring good poles; he goes by himself, finds a tree, has almost cut it down when a winged creature grabbed it, tore it off the tree, carried it into the sea, threw it on a sandbank covered with human bones; he swam away, taking a human shoulder blade with an oar; found a huge larch with the Winged's nest at the top, knocked down, killed a child (chick?) Winged, hid at the trunk; Winged plucked his claws into the trunk, could not pull him out, V. killed him; the second Winged flew in, saw V., but also plunged his claws into the barrel, V. killed him, chopped him into pieces; went Next, married Shul-Otyr's daughter; see motive K27]: Munkácsi 1995:27-28.
The Arctic. Asian Eskimos: Menovshchikov 1985, No. 39 (Naukan) [father lets his young son kayak into the sea; he ends up in the country of Eagles; two girls raise him, their father gives him eagle plumage; he a fire-breathing whale grabs, drags it under water, the Eagle sisters help raise the whale into the air; the Eagle wants human beings; the young man brings his father to eat; brings his mother, she lives well with the Eagles]: 88-93; Bogoras 1913, No. 7 [a man always beats his wife; she turns a bucket of water into the sea, a bag of meat into a boat, sails away, taking his little son; sails to an old man, that daughter; at night the old man sends his a long penis scratching a baby's neck; a woman avoids copulation; runs away, turning a bucket into a lake; throws a piece of her hair, it turns into a forest; climbs a tree; an old man sees her reflection, She dives three times; hears her laughter, sees her in a tree; cuts a tree with her penis; a woman jumps on another; a fallen tree has run over an old man to death; a woman goes to another old man, who has five daughters; the old man stretches the baby's dicks, turning him into a young man; shows the woman a scar around the young man's neck from being hit by a penis, she recognizes her son; the old man and his daughters show him how to wear eagle clothes; in appearance An eagle young man tries to raise a mammoth, his claws get stuck; the Eagle sisters help him; he brings whales and humans for an old eagle who eats human; a mother tells her son about his evil father; an eagle son takes the boat with his father into the air, throws it, brings the corpse of his mother's father]: 426-429; St. Lawrence [while the White Eagle is hunting, Black flies to his wife, takes their son; White flies to the Black Eagle, kills the kidnapper, takes his son and son Black Eagle; the boys grow up; the father does not tells them to go to the old women mountains; the black boy wants to go, the mountain swallows them, they poke feathers from the inside, the mountain belches them, they have lost a lot of feathers from the heat; they tell the mountains that they are their father's sisters, those happy; don't go to a stranded whale; Black insists on going, pierces his claws deep, White a little bit; they move the whale, it dives, the Black Boy drowns]: Slwooko 1979:109-116; inupiate Northern Alaska (Noatak): Hall 1975, No. EH13 [man cheats on wife with widow; woman makes small kayak, sails away with son; sails to Eagle's home; Eagle teaches stepson to turn into an eagle, hunt whales; tells you not to touch the spewing fire; the young man violates the ban, his claws get stuck, his stepfather saves him; the young man finds his real father, raises him into the air, throws him somewhere in the mountains], PM5 [every time the younger brother's wife gives birth to a son and he grows up, the older brother kills his nephew; the spouses pretend that a girl was born; the uncle suspects the truth, puts the nephew in a hollowed out log, closes with a lid, drops him into the sea; he is nailed to the land of eagles; two eagle girls find him; he is taught to fly, not told to grab a fire-breathing whale; he grabs, gets stuck in his claws, eagles save him; he marries; comes to his uncle, kills him with his hands, crushing him from above]: 97-102, 125-130.
NW Coast. Hyde: Swanton 1905 (Skidgate) [see motive j27; uncle glues his nephew with tar to a log, lets him into the sea; a log sails to the country of Eagles; a young man marries the leader's daughter; he is given an eagle robe; he lifts whales and other marine animals into the air; once almost dragged under water, his eagle mother-in-law manages to pull him back; he flies in the guise of an Eagle to his uncle's village, kills him inhabitants]: 271-273, 273-276, 277-280; Heiltzuk [True Leader (Raven) tells his son not to touch the Thunderbird hat; he touches, the hat takes him away; the Raven makes a new son out of snot, that turns into a puddle on the floor; the Raven calls Tar and Frost to fish; after sunrise, both melt; the Raven makes a whale, smears it with resin; the Thunderbird sends four of its own after the whale one after another sons; they die stuck in a whale]: Boas 1928b: 13-21; quakiutl [Omean (raven) makes a whale out of poles, sends Nork to Keith for a whale mask; Keith warns not to open the package by road; Mink opens, mask unfolds; Keith puts it back, gives it back to Norka; Omeal, Norka, Grizzly, Wolf, etc. climb into the whale; Thunderbirds father sends sons for the whale; three killed, the fourth brings a whale ashore]: Boas 1910, No. 18:241-245; Nootka [see motif K30; four Thunderbird Brothers come to play a hoop with the Woodpecker; lose; the eldest of the Gromov takes his wife Woodpecker; Woodpecker returns her; Woodpecker and his servant Quatyat turn into a whale; three Gromov pierce their claws into him one by one, get stuck, dragged into the water; only the elder remains]: Sapir, Swadesh 1939, No. 10:51-55; makah [like a nootka; husband is rich, wife is Blackbird; one Thunder comes to play; Quati hides inside a whale, ties and cuts Gromov's paws; the youngest of the brothers remains alive]: Densmore 1939:208-210.
The coast is the Plateau. Comox (chatloltk) [The thunderbird Waquakle kidnaps Koulten's wife; K., Norka and others turn into fish, let themselves be caught; in the guise of salmon, K. tells his wife to eat it, Throw the cartilage into the water; comes to life, takes his wife away; other fish, hanged to dry, jump into the water, come home, also regain their former appearance; K. and his men take Keith's boat, which looks like a whale; they sit inside with a heavy stone; first the sons of the Thunderbird, then their father tries to grab the whale, their claws get stuck; only the youngest son remains alive; now he flies, rattling, only in summer]: Boas 1895, No. 11:82-84; sechelt (sisiatl) [the young man fell in love with the chief's beautiful wife; the chief smeared his wife's bed with resin, threw the glued young man into the water along with the board to which he stuck; the sun melted the resin, the young man went to the other side of the sea; a mouse slave brought him to the house of young women; the mouse advises to choose the last wife; the father-in-law gives his son-in-law an eagle suit, the wife teaches him to fly, catch whales ; his claws get stuck in the monster's back, eagles help, tear the monster apart; a born son wants to see his father's parents; father-in-law sends young people with a child in a self-propelled boat; in her husband's village, his wife feeds everyone with an inexhaustible supply of meat, even the Raven cannot eat his portion; the wife warns not to flirt with other women; the husband violates the ban, she walks on the waves, taking her son; he goes next; she turns around, he drowns]: Hill-Tout 1904a: 54-57; lkungen (lummi) [a man marries a Thunderbird, gets clothes made from feathers; hunts whales with his wife's brothers; almost dragged away underwater trying to grab a sea serpent; Thunders lift a snake into the air]: Stern 1934:110-112; squamish [Hill-Tout 1929:62-64; at a time when animals and humans were no different, four brothers sailed in a boat; the boat itself was a little brother who looked like this; they stayed with the chief and he asked them to go to the salmon country and bring them here; they went to the sun to find out where they lived salmon; this required luring the sun; the younger brother turned into salmon and was tied in the forest by the shore; but the sun put three brothers to sleep, turned into an eagle himself {probably an osprey} and carried away the salmon, after cutting off the line; when two brothers woke up, turned the third into a whale and also tied it to the shore; this time the eagle could not cut off the rope, and its claws were stuck in the body of a whale; the sun told the brothers that the country salmon in the west, and they let him go; after inviting many squamish Indians, who sailed in their own boats, and taking potions and amulets, the brothers sailed to the island, but could not dock: on the water a layer of coal is floating; they swam the island and docked on the other side in a salmon village; the leader of the village is Chinook salmon; he was given amulets, he is friendly; sent two young men and two girls to the top; they are in the water turned into salmon, cooked and served to brothers; bones should neither be thrown away nor broken; after the meal, the bones were carefully collected and thrown into the water, boys and girls were reborn; on the fourth day, one guest hides bones; young salmon revive, but one has no nose or cheek; the culprit pretended to find bones; one of the visitors drowned after falling into floating coal; the brothers can revive him, but he is blind; the salmon chief began to offer the eyes of different types of salmon and for the third time his eyes came up, the living man saw the light; the chief agreed to send his men to the squamish country, but on the condition that people would collect bones and throw them into the water; so it was]: Clark 1960:29-32; quileut [Thunderbird kidnaps Quety's wife; he turns into an egg, a sprout, a shell; the wife picks it up, he takes his own her former appearance takes her home, but Thunder takes her back every time; K. turns his boat into a whale; Thunder's claws get stuck in a whale, Thunder sinks, turns to stone; Thunder's younger brother is still looking him; lightning flies out of his eyes, flapping wings are thunder strikes]: Reagan, Walters 1933:311-312.
The Midwest. Menominee: Bloomfield 1928, No. 98 [The thunderstorm sails in a boat hunting snakes from the lower world; stabs a spear, is dragged under water; his daughter wonders why the house is a mess; it's a boy from the lower world the world goes out to play with her younger brother; both descend to the lower world; a boy from the lower world subdues the Turtle, Lynx, guarding the entrance to the house where the man and woman Snakes hold the Thunder with their brass tails; the lower boy gives his sisters to a friend (they are made of copper, the eldest is dangerous); in the confrontation between the Thunder and the Serpents, the Thunders win; the lower boy decides to live on earth, turns into a snake (garter- snake)]: 369-379; Skinner, Satterlee 1915, No. II9 [the youngest of ten Thunderbird Brothers grabs a horned serpent but is dragged under water; two Snakes hold it under the hill with their copper tails; his son made friends with the son of the Serpent; he reports that there is a hole at the top of the hill; Thunders kill the father and uncle of the Snake boy, free his brother]: 342-356; Winnebago: Radin 1926, No. 3 [The creator creates four Water Spirits (Snakes); one son is called the Traveler, he has been to all corners of the world; Thunderbird fights him; both ask a person for help; he decides to shoot the Traveler, but the Traveler warns that a person will not be able to touch the water; he shoots at the Thunderbird; he is dragged into the water and eaten; enemies kill a person and his relative; the Traveler is the leader of all spirits]: 37-45; fox [Thunder grabs a water monster, tries to lift it into the air; both ask a man for help; a man shoots Thunder; a monster drags a wounded Thunder under water]: Jones 1907, No. 5:203-207.
The Great Southwest. Cocopa [All girls love the Coyote; when he was swimming, the Moon hugged him, he met her; when he returned home, covered in feathers, turned into a huge bird, took his parents and sisters to the mountain, ate them, began to eat people, his friend (also a bird?) also ate their bodies; the sea monster (whale, snake, crab - undefined) is afraid that they will eat it too; deliberately put his back out of the water; the eagle dragged him, but the monster killed him, dragged him into the water; the marine inhabitants are happy; a friend found floating feathers; went down to the marine life; pierced the black testicle of a sea serpent, from there the sea poured out (the Colorado River in red); a friend plunged a spear, the chasing water temporarily stopped; a friend ran to his mother's older sister; made a bag out of sea serpent skin; bird girls came; she lay down alone with Coyote, smells it, but he still gets married; the wife is a Louse; she was taken away by young men, he got it her from the source]: Crawford 1983, No. 2:33-85.
Central Amazon. Lower Rio Negro (manao?) [fisherman Uazu's hook gets stuck in Mother Turtles's shell; she drags him into the river, the fish eat it; his son pulls the Turtle out of the water, turns into Grandfather Eagles; unable to reach the bones and W.'s tendons, but they themselves turn into plants that make bows and arrows to shoot fish]: Barbosa Rodrigues 1890:271; moore (lower Purus) [The owl (Strix clamator) and his sister are giants; The owl ate the children of the Moore Indians; the sorcerers summoned the turtles to the beach, the Owl grabbed him, got stuck with his claws, the Turtle dragged him into the water; the Owl's sister was asked to cling to the log, her claws were also stuck; before disappearing into the water, Owl said that his hands would grow a tree to make bows, glue for arrows from {an incomprehensible word}, a vine for a bowstring from his nerves, a walnut from fat to polish arrows, from his hair - a curaua for cordas das flechas, bones - bamboo for arrowheads]: Barbosa Rodrigues 1890:267-269; munduruk: Kruse 1946, No. 26:633-634; Murphy 1958, No. 54 [Harpy Eagle grabs the Turtle, but she drags her under water; other eagles feed her son; he trains strength by lifting a log of the same weight as the Turtle; lifts the Turtle into the air, brings it to the nest; the birds hammer its shell; The toucan fails, the Woodpecker pierces; all birds are stained with blood, bile and fat; the rapina eagle gets its head to blow it like a horn, but the tivito eagle asks to give its head to him; since then, t. low, and the river has a piercing voice].